Vegetable barley soup

Despite not having a ton of things in it this soup is one that always fills me up quickly. I love the chewy texture of barley too, which makes its longer cooking time more worth it. This soup does need to sit on the stove for longer than most of my other soups, but the prep work is pretty easy so I feel like it all evens out. Somehow the barley turns the broth sort of buttery and silky while it's cooking, which I like because it makes it sort of different from a typical broth-based veggie soup. This recipe makes a lot of soup, like enough for a few servings.

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 large carrot, sliced in thin half moons
2 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 mushrooms, cut in half, then sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 bottle of beer*
1/2 cup medium barley
4 cups veggie stock
1 bay leaf
salt
pepper

Directions:

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat and add onions, celery, and carrots and cook for several minutes until they start to soften. Add mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook until the mushrooms have softened and have started to turn brown. At this point there may be some brown bits on the bottom of the pan, which is good. Add your beer and stir up all those brown bits. Add the barley, the veggie stock, the bay leaf, and salt/pepper. Cover the pot and simmer over low-ish heat for about 45 minutes, checking it at 30 minutes to make sure it doesn't need more stock, Stir occasionally during this time to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. When barley is tender and has opened up then the soup is done. Transfer to bowls and enjoy!

*Ok, two things. First: if you only use half a beer then you get to drink the other half. Second: use what you like to drink. I used an amber ale in this one, which was nice because it matched the mushroom flavor. You could also use a pale ale or an IPA. Don't use a fruit beer though, obviously.